Seoul shares dip 3.25 pct on tech slide; won drops

South Korean stocks closed lower Tuesday as a foreign-selling spree of major techs continued, tracking an overnight tech slump on Wall Street. The local currency weakened against the U.S. dollar.

After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 244.38 points, or 3.25 percent, to close at 7,271.66.

Trade volume was moderate at 524.8 million shares worth 37.1 trillion won (US$24.6 billion), with losers far outnumbering winners 706 to 178.

After opening 1.2 percent lower, the index plunged as much as 4.98 percent to 7,141.91 in the morning session before rebounding in the afternoon, suffering extreme swings throughout the session.

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Overnight, U.S. stocks closed mixed, as investors remained cautious after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had postponed a planned attack on Iran at the request of Gulf leaders.

Some U.S. big techs, such as Apple and Microsoft, closed lower. Investors also await the earnings report from artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia this week.

"Domestic and global semiconductor stocks, including those in South Korea and the United States, are currently in a phase where profit-taking pressure has emerged due to concerns over the pace of a recent rally," said Han Ji-young, an analyst. He added that intraday volatility is likely to continue.

Foreign investors alone sold a net 6.26 trillion won worth of local shares, centering on chipmakers, automakers and other market heavyweights, to extend their selling streak to a ninth consecutive session.

Institutional and retail investors purchased a net 526 billion won and 5.63 trillion won, respectively.

Most market heavyweights traded lower.

Samsung Electronics went down 1.96 percent to close at 275,500 won, while SK hynix lost 5.16 percent at 1,745,000 won.

AI investment firm SK Square went down 6.68 percent to 1.02 million won, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution slipped 1.96 percent to 400,000 won.

Auto shares were also among the losers, with giant Hyundai Motor losing 8.9 percent to 604,000 won and its auto parts-making affiliate Hyundai Mobis decreasing 8.06 percent to 525,000 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,507.8 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 7.5 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys lost 0.6 basis point to 3.751 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds went down 1.8 basis points to 3.972 percent.

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